A father and son who launched a "sustained and prolonged" attack on a man have been handed suspended jail terms.

Gary Faulkner, 52, and his 30-year-old son Gary Scott Faulkner, known as Scott, assaulted Stephen Granger when he came to collect laundry from an address in Rhyl.

There was a "certain amount of bad feeling" between the family and the 24-year-old victim, who is in a relationship with Gary Faulkner Snr's daughter, Ellie.

Caernarfon Crown Court heard that Ellie had told her dad that she and her boyfriend had had a row, but had text him asking to leave the washing in a bag outside and pleaded with him not to do anything when Mr Granger came to collect it.

Simon Mintz prosecuting said she knew there was "bad feeling" towards her partner from her family.

But when Mr Granger arrived and was looking into the dryer, Faulkner Snr, 52 of Trellewelyn Road, Rhyl, started swinging punches at him.

Scott Faulkner, of Meredith Crescent, Rhyl joined in the attack and punched Mr Granger with both fists to the face and ribs.

The pair then carried him into the living room where they continued to assault him and after a scuffle, he managed to escape over a garden wall.

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With cuts and bruises to his face, Mr Granger called the police and his girlfriend, Ellie who asked her father and brother why they had attacked him and was told it was because they believed he had hit her.

But Mr Mintz said there had been a "misunderstanding" and that Granger had flicked a cigarette at her.

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Judge Rees said he accepts that Faulkner Snr was "naturally concerned for the welfare" of his daughter and felt like she was under "insidious control."

He said the assault was not a "preconceived decision" to teach Mr Granger a lesson, but rather he had "come to the end of his tether" with regards to his activities in relation to his daughter.

He also said neither men had reoffended since the incident in December 2017 and that their most recent convictions for assault dated back more than 10 years ago, whereas the victim had more recent convictions for violence.

Judge Rees believed Faulkner Snr was "not proud" to find himself in the crown court.

He was in employment and had a supportive family.

Of Scott Faulkner, he said he was also in employment and had parental responsibility for his children for which he "plays an important part in their lives."